A BLOG FOR A WEEK

7Bs: The Standard

I became a reader when I had an interest in reading ebook stories. I was so young at the time. I guess I was only in elementary school when I started to read. The usual type of story at that time was about love, friendship, school, family, and gangsters. 

When Pinkangel said, “Choose your books wisely,” I agreed with that. Well, in my case, even though there were some stories that had warnings for R18+ for a few chapters, I had control over myself. I knew my values and what dos and don’ts as a minor at the time. Those kinds of scenes won’t influence me to cross the line to try that ‘thing’. And I’m not intentionally looking for that kind of story; it's just that I don’t skip chapters, haha. For me, as a reader, not all you read is something you must try. 

But then, after being a Wattpad addict (reader) together with my cousins and friends, most people told us: Puro na lang kayo Wattpad! May natutunan ba kayo sa binabasa niyo? Puro kayo kilig at puyat!

To answer that question, is there any moral lesson that Wattpad has taught us? Yes, of course. Every story has a moral lesson to tell readers. But on the other hand, well, sorry for staying up until early morning just to read. We always stay up like that because of our “last chapter promise” until we don’t notice that we finally finished the whole series. But being a Wattpad reader is not only about ‘puro kilig’ because there’s a lot of moral lessons: how to forgive, how to choose your peace, advocating women's empowerment and gender equality, and those stories that can be an eye-opener to everyone about when to leave a toxic relationship and what issues need to be fixed in a family.

To never settle for less and set a high standard when choosing a partner. I read a lot of love stories—friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, strangers-to-arrange marriages. But there’s one famous motto for every Wattpad reader: the 7B, which means books before boys because boys bring babies. We are content with every male character that is a green flag. Someone who will fight for you no matter what and someone who will wait for you for so many years. Someone who will sacrifice everything just because he loves you so much. Someone who will say I love you in different languages. Someone who has all five languages. And that someone is much better than a random guy who just slides into your inbox and asks, ‘kumain ka na ba? gusto kita, tayo na’ That someone who is mature enough to handle your mood swings and to love you until their last breath. 

Based on my observation and experience, I didn’t have any serious commitments. It’s really hard to find someone who will meet my standards. Knowing that most of the guys out there are so scared of having a serious commitment. 

But for me, when I see the person’s genuineness and efforts, even though he’s not that good-looking or that perfect to fit my standard, I’ll say yes. Because I also believe that those standards are only my ideal type and not my right to judge a person. I only like the 7Bs motto because I don’t want to become a mom—I mean, not yet. I don’t like premarital sex or unwanted pregnancies. 

Before, my day was incomplete when I didn’t read at least one to three chapters a day, no matter how busy I was. And I also don’t usually read Wattpad series, but when I was in grade 12, I started to read the University Series of 4rueminct. I’m not a fan of the author because of some issues, but I loved her series. My first love in that series is Kalix (The Rain in España), while Arkin is my inner child’s type because the story was about childhood friends to lovers (Golden Scenery of Tomorrow), and I'm head over heels on Clyden because of his intelligence, especially on how he thinks on social issues (Avenues of Diamond), Hiro is a husband material but not my type (Safe Skies, Archer), while on the other hand, Shan, I don’t know anything about him except that fact that he died, I can’t read the series because I already knew what’s the ending (Our Yesterday’s Escape), and lastly, Sevi the best boy (Chasing in the Wild). He’s also not my type, but he’s the best boy friend that every girl could wish for. He’s also boyfriend material for Elyse, but I just admire him as a friend. 

When Luna and Kalix broke up, Sevi was there to comfort Luna. When Yanna got pregnant and she told Hiro that he’s not the father just to let Hiro fulfill his dream to become a pilot, Sevi was there for her and also volunteered to be the father of the baby. And when Sam arranged marriage with Clyden, Sevi said that if Sam didn’t want to get married with Clyden, itatanan niya ang kaibigan. And when Sevi was so worried about Via because she needed to go to Spain for her work and Via and Arkin’s breakup, he told her that he would book a flight when Via needed a friend. And when Sevi told Kierra not to go there alone and just text her location and wait for him there because it’s too dangerous outside for Kierra because of her trauma from her ex.

And now, when I have free time, I’m reading Sheburnn’s stories. The first ever novel of hers that I read was about having a freelationship or situationship with your best friend. More than a friend, less than a lover. They ended their friendship because of misunderstandings by keeping their feelings for each other. Revs got pregnant, but Llander hid their child from her. He wants Revs to pursue her dream of being a news reporter. And this story is titled Lost in Translation (Freelationship Series 1).

And I just finished Sheburnn’s complete series, the Baller Series. Shoot for the Moon is an idiom that means to ask for the best or the most you could hope for. This story proves that no one can control the heart. Drop the ball is also an idiom that means to make a mistake. It seems like everything was a mistake because Mary fell in love with Hunter even though she knew that he had been her girlfriend for five years. This story is similar to the Taxi Cab Theory because Hunter broke up with her girlfriend first just to be with Mary, whom he only knew for months. But at least, there’s no cheating. And for Sheburnn’s most hated story—Carry the Ball. This idiom means to be responsible for getting something done. And the story was about Kamila and Blaze’s hate-love into healthy marriage life—until they found out that Kamila is incapable of getting pregnant. And this is the most hated story because of the ending on Wattpad: when they had a crisis in their marriage, Blaze got pregnant with another girl, and Kamila found out, so she wants divorced. And the disappointing and exciting part is that when you buy a book, you can get different endings to the story. What a plot twist, right? I don’t have money for books right now, so yeah, I cried for that story. Blaze was my standard; he set the standard so high. And lastly, take charge, which means to accept responsibility for something and have control over it. This story proves that love is sacrifice when Juan takes charge of something he didn’t do. He went to jail twice because of Nica’s false accusations that he kidnapped and took advantage of her, and when Nica attempted to kill his dad using his gun, he was there to save her and clean up all the mess. I really love Juan for being kind to everyone; he’s like Sevi of the University Series. But unlike Sevi, Juan is my type. 

Sheburnnn also has the Rivero series, but I don’t have free time yet, and the second story of the Freelationship series is not yet finished. 

 
From these kinds of stories, I learned a lot, which also motivates me to continue doing my passion and keep on pursuing my dreams in life. From being a reader, now I am writing my own stories.